Chapter 1
Young Prince Jing Ting was the sole grandson of Prince Jin’s Estate, raised from childhood amid gold, jade, and endless indulgence.
Shi Wei was an indentured servant of the estate, contracted five years at a time and assigned to wait upon the Dowager Princess Consort.
As the end of her contract approached, hope began to bloom in her heart. On the night of the Mid-Autumn Festival, she drank a few cups too many while laughing with the other maids, then was unexpectedly ordered to deliver warm wine to the Young Prince.
When she woke the next morning, she was in his bed, locked in his arms. Her face went bloodless and her whole body shook.
It had been a disastrous misunderstanding.
He had mistaken her for the bedchamber maid his mother had sent him, while Shi Wei had been too drunk to know what was happening.
For her, it was a calamity that destroyed her future.
For the Young Prince, it was no great matter. What was done was done, so he simply kept her as a woman of his bedchamber.
Shi Wei wanted to leave, but Prince Jin’s Estate sent silver, silk, and other gifts to her brother and sister-in-law. Just like that, she became the Young Prince’s bed warmer.
Shi Wei was duckweed on the water. Wherever the current carried her, she survived. She had no choice, so she resigned herself to this life.
Jing Ting had only just discovered the pleasures of women, and he was a soldier accustomed to rough company. Once he started with her, he never seemed to know when to stop.
Every time he emerged refreshed, she was left half-dead. Even then, he liked to tease her and make her beg.
“No more, my lord. This servant truly can’t bear it…”
At such moments he looked as delighted as though he had won a battle. He would nuzzle into the hollow of her neck and laugh under his breath.
“Little one, you’re too delicate. A little more practice will set you right…”
She dared not protest. She could only endure his amusement with tears shimmering in her eyes.
Sometimes, when he tormented her too cruelly, she would give him a few weak kicks. He would catch her by the ankle and instruct her solemnly:
“Here. If you want to stop a man, you kick him where he is weakest.”
Then he would demonstrate, making the tips of her ears burn red.
Rank was rigid and the distance between master and servant absolute. No matter how intimate they became, she knew she must never overstep.
Others in the estate said, “Shi Wei is blessed. In time, she may even be raised as a concubine.”
Behind her back, others sneered, “She delivered wine all the way into his bed. The quiet dogs bite hardest.”
Shi Wei had no way to explain herself, so she let the gossip enter one ear and leave through the other. A lowly maid could not afford too much pride or too fierce a sense of shame. A few barbed tongues were enough to drive a girl mad.
Jing Ting was not yet married, so she had to keep taking bitter medicine to prevent pregnancy.
The medicine tasted awful. Sleeping with Jing Ting exhausted her. There was nothing about this life she liked.
Half a year later, he was ordered to war in Yangcheng. On the night before he left, he held her and wore her out until dawn.
Biting gently at her earlobe, he rasped, “Wait obediently for me, little one.”
She nodded through a haze of tears. He confined her within his arms, forehead against hers, and gazed at the moonlit window in silence for a while. Then he suddenly asked, “Little one, will you miss me?”
Shi Wei lowered her eyes, uncertain how to answer. If she chose the wrong words, she feared he would torment her again.
He mistook her silence for reluctance to part. His heart softened unexpectedly. He placed her hand over his chest and pressed his forehead to hers. “Little one, I truly hate to leave you.”
Hate to leave her? He only hated to leave her body.
She stayed docile within the circle of his arms and offered the sort of dutiful words he wanted to hear.
“Be careful on the battlefield, my lord. Don’t let yourself be hurt. Remember the family waiting at home, and don’t throw away your life…”
Before she could finish inventing the rest, his lips covered hers again.
Before the army departed, she hid behind a door and watched everyone see him off. He lingered for a moment, glancing around as though searching for someone. Disappointment crossed his face before he mounted his horse and rode away.
Shi Wei breathed a sigh of relief, yet her heart felt hollow and she could summon no energy.